Boll-weevil catcher.



J. RICHARDS.

BOLL WEEVIL CATCHEH.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 29, 1911 Patented 00a 30, 1917,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOE Je'IcHA'RDs, 'QF TIMPSONJ'IEXAS.

flormiwnnvxn-en'reflnn.

spe'iflcationof Letters Patent.

:tpplieatiomfile'dd anuaryw2 yw17. seriarlio. 145,220.

Tozdll w hom'z'tmagi concern:

1 Be lllirkllOVll that. I, iilon 'BIGHABDS, a citizennof the United States, residinggat Timp- 5011,1 111 the county 'of: fihelby land state of Texas, have invented certain new 'andluseful Improvements :in ;Boll-;Weevil Gatehers, of which thesfollowingfiea specificatiol i,"referen'ce'being had to the accompanying "drawings.

This ii'x'vention relates to agricultural devices or machines and particularly to means for trapping bo'll weevils or other-obnoxious inseots.

The general object .ofthe inventionvis the provision of a bell weevil v trapipin'g mechanism :niounted upon wheels and adapted to be pa ssed down between; therowsiof growing plants and :inclnding a trapping It pan containing aoil 1 or like material and -1neans for knocking atheaboll weevilsofrom the gplants onto the trappingpan.

More specifically "the various ob ects of the invention :are 'tolirnprove the deta1led eonstructionlof devices; (iflthischaracter 1 and provide means in connection -*w-ith =.the ;pan whereby the branchesof -the-;plants shall be prevented-from dipping into; the trough or pan containingthetrappingaliquid and a further object-is to so construct'thisatrap ping pan-or trough-that :itwill not injure the plants or break the branches thereof.

A further object of the invention 155 110 iprovidesmeans for: supporting; plantshalnng devi ees, which means shall-be ad ustable; to wariousrheightsrand inclinations-to Qtherehy zadjust? thfiriflfliflhlIlQriOI' operating romplants of various heights. N

*Qthermbiaatset fi thelinrentiond ave to do izwitheimproving the details 0f; eonetruction thereby 130"Tender"$119uClQ/V1GG-SHIlplG55- stroe g mud-effective.

Mydnven on illus rated --in-the-aeccmi anying id ni ,wherein 'Eigure =,-1,=:i-'s acside elevatlon of my proved boll weevilrcateher thegmnrbernghin :seet r;

2 :is; aatogpmlan "-vleweof the construc- =tiemeh naine igr11; y

13 ts a qfragmentarygseotronalanew thrug %'tlw:b 5 aadathebsaanl shaming th enoml epbsitie "o es-of theibrlle -sun eecrting' lbgrs $5 5,;

Fig. 4 1s a vertical section the .zmember altend-thetrnxgmenotrthe I 5 is a traneverse 'setion'il wwggf rear ndear :the'beam 4 is a j1egf2'9. 'Tliis Referring to these drawings, it :will be seen that my machine; includes a longitudinally extending .beam' 10 which may beonade ofim-alleableiron or-.other suitable mater-rel. This beam about esinehes, long andfimay be of any desired erosssectional form and area. The forward end of the lbeal'n provided with longitudinally extending flanges l1 and 12 whiohiare vertically grooved as at 1.3 for the reception. of the standard of the front wheel 14:. This front wheel is vertically adjustable by means .of abolt 15. At its forward end the bcamlO is bifurcated and laterally enlarged, the forward en'dof the beam being laterally rounded. 'The two ears 16 formed by bifurcating the beam are provided with the vertically disposed rear pin engaging passage 17 and Withaplurzilitynof passageslfil arranged arouately. The clevis 519 has rearwardly exten'ding-earsQO ain-titled at; their ,rear ends with jgasag-es forjthe reception: of the 1.1101521 .or pin {and with; perforations "22 for vthe reception dna locking pin 23 whereby: the velev s Inayflbe held in anyangnlarly adjusted position to the line. Of dra'ft. The *clevis is pno ide'd with a plurality of perforationsfid for engagement with Idra'ft devices.

At its rear end the'beain is formed with a downwardly and rearwardly directed lug '251and wit-ha rear drag 26 which extends downward and then bent rearwardiandmay be attached to the rearbeam-dnany suitable manner. This lzdrag is preferably i-aidjustable-so. .t'hat'the lower end. offthe Idraggj is on alevel withthe .wheeli l'l. .Handles 275jare alsoattahediadj acent the rearend o e Ibeam, these handles being braced iby jibe \braces428. [Extending downward ,lfromTthe e at extendsidownward and thenflaterall .BOandthenpPer end of the leg'TQQ 1s.

, away as =;at,31; so as itoh fitiagain'st', aiiliig 3'2 fiormed on-v thefibealni and the upper end df the leg fits aga'nst logs "33 stormed;on "the .i beemi' ll eg Lisf held in 'pla by hltsg Toward'the forward end of 'thejrbeami'jfihe beam ,is -.;fo rm ed with the pairs of} lgg F-l315 it r which is madeofagalvanized tin or other suitable material, this pan being about 40 inches in length, 3 inches in depth and for the greater portion of its length about inches in width. The forward wall 43' of thepan is upwardly and rearwardly inclined and the pan is held in place by rear boltsf44'eXtending upward from the member'30 and bent over at the top to engage over-the wall of the pan and by forward bolts ,45 which are also bent over at their upper ends and engaged over the upper edge o'fthe forward wall. Across the forward end of the pan extends a rod 45 which is r'otatably mounted in the side walls of the pan and attached to this rod are a plurality ofguards 46 which extend rearward the full length of the pan and at their rear ends are downwardly bent as at 47 'so' as to rest loosely on the bottom of the pan. A brace 48 connects the rear ends of the guards 46. Disposed in the bottom of the trough or pan is'a' kerosene soaked strip of absorb ent'cloth '49. The object of the guards 46 is 'te preventcotton branches from dipping into the trough or pan. The forward end of the pan is 14 inches in width and is increased g'raduallyto a width of 16inehes at a distance of about 5 inches from'the front end of the pan. The object of having the forward end of the pan inclinedand the corner and lateral edge of the pan rounded isto keep the. front end of the pan from coming in contact with the cotton stalks and the side of the 'pan from injuring the cotton stalks. The object of the shoe 41 is to protect the pan from wearing out. Each leg 37 and 29 is to be made of steel about 5 of bolted (to .the beam. The upper ends of fthe ears are long tudinally" perforated for ,eiigagement'by the trunni'ons of .a" rockan inch thick from its upper end to its lower end, the portion 40 of leg 37 to begradually thinned down to about i of an inch thick at its outer end. The forward'edg'e [of the portion 40 is formed with a flange 4'0 which protects the forward edge of "the 50" homing in 'contact'wi'th stumps. The rear 1 eg 29 is alsoto be made of steel but may be made of less thickness than the forward trough and, keeps this forward edge froin leg as it is subjected to less'strain. The por- 'tion"30 of this leg is also formed a fl nge Z 1 l The beam 10' is "also formed with grooves 50 forllthfl reception of thejlower reduced v ?.'I'.\ 'I .I )1 ,upwardly projecting cars 51 and 52, these ears having their reduced ends .ing hea sa, The forward ear 52 islfornied wit-11 a plurality ofradially bores that; for'instan'ce, shown in Fig. 3.

Having d b eam 53 is formed with perforations so that a piumay be inserted through any one of the bores54 and into the perforation in the trunnion so as to hold the beam 53 set in any rotatably adjusted position. roj.ecting radially from the beam 53 are a plu ra-lity ofbars 55 preferably square, these bars being held to the beam by means of laterally disposed straps 56 bolted tothe bars and having bolts 57 passing beneath the beam and clampingly engaging the beam. Preferably the beam is cut away for the reception of these stra s. The bars 55 are formed with a plurallty of perforations 58 into-which brushes or branches'of like nature may be placed which will brush against the cotton stalks and knock off all the loose squares and boll weevils. The squares or bolls which fall into the 'pan may be burned, while the weevils falling into the pan will be killed by the oil saturated cloth. The beam 53 is to be made of hard wood and i'saboutBO inches in length from end to end.

The practical use of my invention will be obvious from what has gone before. It will be obvious that the device may be construct ed to have the 'trough'extend over on the right hand or the left hand so that two machines may be used, one on each side of a row of cotton at the same time and both acting to brush or sweep the-boll weevils or other insects off into the trapping trough. It will be seen that the machine is so constructed as not to injure cotton plants, that it is light and strongly made and that it may be adjusted to various heights of plants. It will be also obvious that two troughs or pans might be supported upon the single beam, these troughs or pans extending in opposite directions. a l The clevis' 24 is mounted to swing or be laterally adjusted so as top'ermit themachine to housed in rows'of various widths and'so asto" give more latitude for the animal ulling the machine. 1 The rushcarryingbars 55 will ordinarily be disposed in an angular position,

position of these bars,however, will' depend entirely upon the-height of'the' cotton plant where the machine is'working. The brushes carried by the bars 55 are adjustable in the The sense that four brush-es'may be used onfeach bar, orone or two brushes set nearer to or farther from'the end of the bar. \Vhen working on cotton plants whose'height is about equal to that of the machine, the

levelof the brushes, thebars" may be placed a 311' n elaii'nis: v, I l

A boll vil ember aemprisinga is srwha brushes would point outhorizon-tally, while in plants which are higher orlower-than-the' wheel-sup orted beam, handles extending from the eam', a trapping pan disposed, in

a horizontal plane and'operatively mounted upon the beam, and means mounted upon the beam and parallelthereto for supporting brushes above the pan, said means being yrotatably shiftable in a vertical lane to thereby vertically and angularlya just the in a horizontal plane and operatively brushes.

A boll weevil catcher comprising. a Wheel-supported beam, handles at the rear end of the beam, a trapping pandisposed mounted upon the beam, and means mounted upon the beam forsupportingbrushes above the pan, saidmeans including a lon-v gitudinally extending beam rotatably mounted upon the main beam and havingradially projecting bars, the bars being perforated ,to recelvebrushes, and means for holding trough operativelymounted upon the beam and disposed in a horizontal plane to one side of the beam, the forward end of the trough bein inclined, and guards extending longitu lnally along the trough.

- 4. In a boll weevil catcher of the character described-a beam having ground engaging elements at itsforward and rear ends,a

side of the beam, the forwa'r 'endivof the 1,244,895 I a I a" trough being inclined, and guardsfextending longitudinally along the trough, said guards being pivotally' mounted at their forward ends for" unitary movement in la vertical plane. i

5. In arboll weevil catcher, a supporting i member, forward and rear transversely extending bars having upwardly extendin flanges, a pan disposed upon these bars an being rounded.

mounted upon the frame, and means exten ing from the frame for supportinga plurality of brushes in a posltlon proifctin transversely over the trapping troug said between said flanges, and-means holdingthe pan to said bars, the forward end of the pan g a being upwardly and rearwardly inclined and the forward outer corner of the pan 6. In bollweevil catcher, a'wheel-su pi ported frame, a trapping trough operativedy means extendingupward and outward from a the frame and supporting saidbrushes with their ends in an upwardly and outwardly inclined plane. 1 a a In testimony whereof I hereunto 'afiix my signature in the'presence of two witnesses.

JOE RICHARDS. Witnesses: I

F. Rooms,

J. H. NEEL.

0091a! of thiu patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the commlaioner of Patents,

1 Wilmington, D. 0. v K a 

